Document information

Physical location:

RB MSS M1, Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 89.05.16

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Alexander Hamilton to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1889-05-16. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id//letters/1880-9/1889/89-05-16-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

1
Letter removed from a folder of Cassinia arcuata in 1968.
Public School,
Mt. Kembla,
2
NSW.
May 16th 1889
My Dear Baron Von Mueller,
Your letter
3
See M to A. Hamilton, May 1889 (in this edition as 89-05-00b).
inquiring about a Cassinia (no 84) on your list, which you took to be C. Theodori , came to hand to-day.
In reply, I cannot say that I have ever had any reason to doubt its being an indigenous plant. It is common in most parts of the Mudgee District,
4
NSW.
and the habitat it appears to frequent is the upland flats on hillsides where it has a sour semi-marshy, or badly drained soil. The soil does not support good grass, but rushes grow plentifully, and a lichen almost carpets the surface. It grows thickly in such spots forming a scrub, and the plants reach in extreme cases 10 ft. in height, but the average is 6 ft. The stem is woody (Often 3 or 4 inches diametrical measurement)
5
Often 3 or 4… measurement is a marginal note, the location indicated by an asterisk, parentheses added editorially for clarity.
and when cut the wood has greenish markings — the medullary [rays] I think it is that are so colored, but I speak from memory. The localities where it flourishes best are Cobbora
6
Cobbora Waterhole, 85 Km N N E Mudgee.
51 miles north of Mudgee, Goodaman near Guntawang Guntawang
7
Word repeated in going from one line to the next.
16 miles N. of Mudgee, especially in that part of Guntawang known as Biraganbil, and Two Mile Flat near Guntawang. I have also collected it at Home Rule 9 miles east of Guntawang — on sour semi-drained granite flats. I am sorry to say that it is one of the plants whose flowering season I have not noted, doubtless from its common occurrence. I think that this is about all the information I have, and hope it will be of service. Many thanks for the Supplement to Census, and the reprint slip on
Gompholobium

Search for Gompholobium in

,
8
The most recently published Supplement was B89.05.03; for
Gompholobium

Search for Gompholobium in

, see B89.06.02.
which enables me to add another plant to my list of Illawarra plants.
I remain
Yours very faithfully
Alex. G. Hamilton